


The Ways We Say: Home

by Evitcani



Series: Drabbles and Prompts [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Drabbles, M/M, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 04:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13092405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evitcani/pseuds/Evitcani
Summary: A collection of Taako and Kravitz drabbles.





	1. Can See It In Your Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue to [In Another Life](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10660311/chapters/23592567).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: Egyptian Arabic parents call their children by the same name their children call them. When Kravitz says ‘baba’, he is referring to either Mac or Angus here.

The moving van was there bright and early. Kravitz put a hand on top of Mac’s head as she bounced on the balls of her feet, watching the road. 

“Baba, you said they’d be right behind it,” she complained, pushing his hand off. 

“I didn’t say they’d be hitched on the back, Baba, give them a minute,” he laughed, opening the door wide. “Did you put Lucifer in your room?”

“Mhm,” she pouted, looking around the living room. Taako and Kravitz had decided ahead of time which of their collective furniture they’d use, leaving the living room bare. Kravitz had done most of the moving himself, opening up rooms that had been sealed with twice as many heirlooms as he’d started with. The old servant’s kitchen in the basement had been the worst and they’d decided to put money towards renovating it. 

Still, he suspected all the bustle and the wedding coming up had left Mac feeling neglected. “Mac, what were you working on this morning?” 

She turned around and hesitated, tucking a curl behind her ear and accidentally revealing a smudge of marker. “Nothin’,” she demurred, crossing her arms. “Nothin’ for you.”

Kravitz sighed and headed out the door to greet the movers. It took Taako another ten minutes to slide into the driveway in Lup’s slick sports car. 

They only had time for a quick peck before they were off directing where things went and trying to make sense of the chaos. At some point, he lost track of Taako, but when he found him again, he was hiding in the corner of Kravitz’s - no, /their/ - bedroom, sniffing. 

“Love?” Kravitz called softly from the doorway, alarmed. 

Taako wiped furiously at his face. “Huh? What is it, homie?”

“Are you okay?” Kravitz frowned, wondering if he was too stressed by the moving. 

“Yeah, I’m -,” Taako started, then stopped, sighing. “Mac, uh, she asked what I called my dad.” Kravitz came into the room and put a hand on Taako’s shoulder in concern. “Told her I’d probably just call him ‘dad’.” Kravitz tilted his head curiously, but stayed quiet, giving Taako room to speak or end the conversation there. “She said ‘Okay, dad,’ and walked away. It’s fine,” he laughed, wiping at his face more. “Moving just has me a little -.” He stopped, licking his lips. “I don’t know if I’m ready to have two kids, handsome, and it just hit me, fuck.”

Kravitz smiled and sat down on the bed, pulling Taako with him. “We can probably convince the movers to take everything back for the right price,” he grinned. “Comes out of your account, of course.”

Taako laughed and shook his head, shoving at Kravitz’s arm lightly. “No, I’m excited about that, but damn. Without Lup, I’d be hopeless with Angus. The fuck am /I/, Taako, tryin’ to do bein’ somebody’s dad and somebody else’s husband? Istus.”

“I’ve been kind of worried about that myself,” Kravitz started slowly. “What if Angus figures out I’m not as cool as he thinks I am? It’s all downhill from there.”

“Gods, what if it turns out I only like seeing you once every few days and I actually hate you?” Taako said, staring at the wall. 

“Well, I know I hate you after that stunt with the proposal,” Kravitz replied, patting Taako on the arm. 

“Shut up, you loved it,” Taako grinned, putting his arms around Kravitz’s neck.

“The fountain, yes, the publicity, no. My parents found out you proposed from the /news/,” Kravitz grumbled, wrapping his arms around Taako’s waist. “Maybe you can make up for it over the next few hundred years of marriage.”

Taako tittered and averted his eyes. “Ya think we’ll make it that long?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Kravitz replied, kissing Taako’s cheek. 

“Baba, dad, the movers don’t know where to put this - ?” Mac’s voice was cut off by a loud crash. 

“Oh no!” 

“Angus, I told you that geddo gets mad if you move his skull around!”

Kravitz groaned, standing up. “Twice the kids, twice the mess,” he sighed.

“So we’re just ignoring the part about your grandpa’s skull getting mad, cool cool,” Taako said with a look mild concern as he joined Kravitz in the doorway.


	2. How Can I Tend You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A soulmate AU I never quite took anywhere, but I like the implications of what I had here.

They told him he’d been born lucky. Across his right hip in glittering gold had been the words, “ _I’m not salt._ ” It was supposed to be a good omen, that his soulmate was alive and well. He’d never been one to listen well to others. 

Magnus tossed another piece of popcorn at his head, “Taako!” 

Taako pulled it out of his hair and popped it in his mouth. “What, homie? Sometimes a guy needs some personal think time,” he complained, stifling a yawn. 

“I asked if you’ve met your soulmate,” Magnus sighed, sitting up and eating a fistful of popcorn. “You sorta blanked out, dude.”

“Nope, don’t have one,” Taako replied with a shrug, rolling over on the bunk and closing his eyes.

“Everyone has one,” Magnus said flatly, waving his hand. 

“Well, I never did,” Taako snapped, glaring over his shoulder. 

Being born with his mark meant his soul mate had turned ten before he was born. Older than him, sure, but they were out there and he didn’t have to wait long to find them. It made him laugh, every time he saw it, too, wondering why his soulmate had to defend themselves by saying they weren’t salt. He put up with a lot of things knowing he was alone, then, but it wouldn’t be like that forever. It _couldn’t_ be like that forever. He had three words proving there was a person out there waiting for him as much as he was waiting for them. 

The thing about people is that they die. 

He was fifty-six when he woke up to find he had no more words across his hip. His soulmate had died before he was even old enough for his first words to show up on them and as far as he was concerned, that was the real omen. It heralded a future where he didn’t wait to hear three words he _never_ would. He had always been alone and he knew he always would be. 

Taako didn’t feel lucky.


	3. Stay Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of a fic series I never got around to completing. First time I've ever published it anywhere so enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for Grief/Death and past mentions of dying. This one is a bit angst.

The night didn’t end on the moon. Even this far into the evening, Taako hadn’t gotten over Kravitz in something casual. His hair was in a half knot, threaded with gold and purple ribbons, black feathers hanging haphazardly. The amount of skin Kravitz was teasing him with was _unfair_. He was showing less than usual, but the idea of more had been presented by the little black dress – its sheer sleeves with, _gods_ , the high choker collar ruffled at the top – and distracted him all through the date. 

Of course, Kravitz had tracked his gaze. At one point, he’d crossed his legs to give Taako a good look at the bare skin between his thighs where the long black socks dipped in a curve. Taako had nearly choked on his wine when he realized Kravitz was wearing a garter belt and this was the third date. The third, official date that wasn’t them sprawled across Taako’s bed, stealing away during what time they had, kissing or talking or sharing a pipe. 

They stopped by the edge of a pond, somewhere far outside the limits of the town Kravitz had brought him to. It was a nice town, but Kravitz had seemed like he was on the edge of saying something all night and Taako had a feeling this place was important somehow. He threw down the blanket draped over his arm and sat cross legged, facing the lily flowers. 

Taako ripped up a cattail and laid down, head in Kravitz’s lap. “We walked past a whole bunch of ponds, handsome,” he said lightly, picking out the fluff from the cattail. 

Kravitz hummed in agreement, twisting braids into Taako’s hair. “It’s a nice place. Peaceful,” he murmured, looking out over the water while Taako gazed up at him. “I come here to think.”

Taako paused, hand stilling in a mess of fluff. In the two months they’d been dating, neither had shared anything nearing personal. They’d vent to each other about work or talk about music or read terrible books out loud to each other in increasingly terrible accents. The tragic backstories hadn’t come then. 

“Taako, you understand I’m really dead, don’t you?”

Nothing could last forever. “You’re cold as shit and live in Hell. I kinda figured it out, my man,” Taako laughed and patted Kravitz’s cheek. 

Kravitz frowned down at Taako, fingers tangled in his hair. “I never—,” he cut himself off with a frustrated noise, freeing his hands to look at his talons. “Things are _harder_ for me than other reapers. Especially on the material plane.”

That was interesting. Taako knew almost nothing about how reapers worked. “Okay, shoot.” He looked up at Kravitz, taking one of his hands. 

“They never found my body,” Kravitz said simply, looking disdainfully at the water. It was clearly the only answer he thought Taako needed. “I don’t have a single one of my bones.” He looked down at Taako, embarrassed and apologetic. “If we want to do more than kiss, we’ll need to get my heart beating with some spells. If we stop, it’ll—.”

“Wait, wait,” Taako interrupted, sending a shower of cattail fluff over the blanket as he sat up. “Is your body a meat mech?” He pinched Kravitz’s cheek. “If I exploded you in a fireball, would you pop back into existence?” 

“Ow,” Kravitz growled, swatting at Taako’s hand. Taako pinched his other cheek with a grin and he gave up, glaring. “No, of course not. If you explode me, I will probably die for good. _Don’t_ do that.” 

Taako laughed and dragged Kravitz’s hands down to his lap, playing with the rings on his fingers. “Then what’s the bone talk, bone boy? I’ve already seen your skull twice,” he drawled, pulling off what looked like an engagement ring from Kravitz’s pinky. 

There was a pause and Taako looked up. Kravitz was squinting at him, genuine confusion in the worry lines near the corners of his mouth. “Are you fucking with me?” 

Taako snorted and rolled his eyes, jabbing Kravitz in the center of the chest. “I’d like to be fucking you, so not this time, bubala.” Kravitz averted his eyes, huffing like he was scandalized; it was cute. Grinning, Taako put his hands on either of Kravitz’s shoulders and leaned his weight on him. “Like you don’t want me to be fucking you, too, handsome,” he winked and dropped a hand to Kravitz’s thigh. He watched Kravitz’s eyes widen as Taako traced the line between his black socks and bare skin. 

“W-wait,” Kravitz protested weakly, looking almost disappointed when Taako put his hand back on his shoulder. “You aren’t messing with me?” Taako gave him a flat look. Averting his eyes, Kravitz chuckled weakly and coughed. “This explains a few things,” he sounded almost relieved. 

There was something here Taako was clearly missing. “Alright, I’m buckling in for story time,” Taako hissed, pulling himself into Kravitz’s lap and sighing loudly. 

Kravitz wrapped his arms around Taako’s middle and squeezed lightly. “It’s not my fault you were raised under a rock,” he laughed, making Taako’s ears flicker in annoyance. “Sorry, dear, but I can’t believe no one ever threatened to turn you into a reaper growing up.” Taako’s ears pressed forward in interest. Before he’d met Kravitz, he hadn’t known there was more than the Grim Reaper. “Wow, where do I even start?” Kravitz laughed and shook his head, enjoying this far too much for Taako’s liking. 

“Sometimes when people die, they leave unfinished business. Important things The Raven Queen offers them a second chance to take care of,” Kravitz watched Taako’s face carefully, like he was waiting for Taako to say he already knew that. Taako did not. “It’s a deal. We are reborn as shadar-kai, but we are marked to serve her the moment we are adults,” he touched the blue line running over his bottom lip to the circle in the dip of his collarbone. “To connect with our bodies, our new parents usually steal a bone from our old body and put it under our pillows while we’re still young. Heart beats on its own and we’re like other little kids.”

This was all a little strange. Taako looked around the tranquil clearing, feeling out of place suddenly. “Do you still have your old memories?” 

“No, that would be really awkward,” Kravitz laughed, waving his hand vaguely. “In my case, I guess it wouldn’t have mattered.” 

Since Kravitz was being so open, Taako would ask, “What was your case?”

Kravitz frowned and went quiet. Taako decided to give him time, turning the new information over in his head. He wondered why Kravitz had assumed it was universal. “I was a really sickly kid,” Kravitz murmured, wrapping a strand of Taako’s hair around his fingers. “Hardly ever allowed outside with even less chances for me to be healthy enough to go.”

He shifted, nudging Taako off his lap and pulling them both to their feet. They stood there for a moment before Kravitz seemed to decide something, squeezing Taako’s hands. He tugged him towards a pile of rocks. “I lived here,” he whispered. Taako realized slowly that the rocks had the vague outline of a chimney and walls. Kravitz turned towards the pond, drawn in on himself. He didn’t need to say it for Taako to understand. 

This was too much. 

“I was fifteen. There was a forest fire and my family was trying to leave with the rest of the town.”

Taako didn’t want to hear this. 

“I was in the way, so my brother and sister took me outside. After our parents died of the same thing I was dying of, they were all I had.”

This was awful. 

“Twins who always called me their triplet born on the wrong day. Sorry, not a great joke, but it’s never taken a lot to make me laugh.”

He laughed and Taako looked down at the burnt out fireplace. 

“They did everything to try to save me, make me healthy again. I was playing with this wooden doll Edward had carved for me. I tripped and it went straight into the water. They said, ‘We’ll be back soon, sweetie!’”

He was telling it like it was a funny story, looking at his hands. 

“I could barely walk. All it took was them looking away for a moment and a clumsy splash. I sank like a rock and didn’t have the strength to fight for attention.”

His voice went quiet and he stood at the edge of the pond. 

“Some townsfolk, a long time ago, said they drained the whole lake that used to be here. As far as the eye could see,” Kravitz flung out his arms towards the forest. “They never found me, but the townsfolk said they never stopped looking.”

Taako didn’t understand why he was crying. 

Hot tears splashed down his cheeks. He blinked, touching his face and sniffling. As quickly and quietly as he could, he tried to wipe away his tears. Kravitz didn’t need to see him losing it over a story it sounded like Kravitz made it out the better for. 

The wind rustled Kravitz’s dress, carrying a bite of late winter even this far south. This place was deeply embedded in Kravitz heart. He tilted his head up towards one of the moons and brought his hand to his lips. Taako murmured a disguise self spell to hide his smeared makeup and puffy eyes. 

Kravitz startled slightly at the noise and turned with a soft smile. “I’m sorry, did you say something?” He licked his lips, eyes flickering to the pile of bricks and back to Taako. “Lost in thoughts for a moment,” he laughed, expression venturing into shy as he rubbed the back of his neck. “This was meant to be more wine and dine, not wine and whine, I promise.” He walked to Taako and put a hand on his hip.

“Don’t know your definition of sexy, but I don’t have ‘place where I died’ on mine,” Taako smirked, easing into the persona. Taking a step closer, he put his hand over Kravitz’s and gave a squeeze.

Kravitz winced, cleared his throat and chuckled. “Right, well, my thought was to take you to the most romantic spot I know. In retrospect, maybe it should have been the second one,” he confessed, intertwining their fingers and putting a hand on Taako’s cheek briefly. “Do I still have time to steer us to romantic?”

There were so many ways this could go. Kravitz was so earnest, eager to make Taako happy. He had shared this place with Taako only in the hope he’d be impressed by it. Taako had a lot of things he didn’t want to think about anymore. Including what this meant between the two of them. “It depends, handsome,” he said with faux-seriousness, hand sliding up the outside of Kravitz’s thigh. “On what your end-goal for the romance was.”

Taako’s grin went sharp while he watched Kravitz try to turn his bright smile into something more shy. “There’s a nice inn with a honeymoon suite back in town,” he replied, smoothing a hand over his hair. He glanced down when Taako’s wicked fingers found their way under the garter, thumb rubbing circles over Kravitz’s bare hip. The garter and socks were the only things he had on under that dress. Wetting his lips, he managed to bring his eyes back to Taako’s. “If you weren’t opposed, we could end up there.”

“Mhm,” Taako hummed, watching Kravitz squirm under his hands. “Are we goin’ or not, bubala?” 

Kravitz made a soft noise in the back of his throat and fumbled at his hair for a pin. It grew into his scythe and he had them standing in an alley next to the inn in the next moment. Taako managed not to laugh when Kravitz checked in under his reservation. 

“Little forward of you to reserve the room, babe,” Taako snickered and shut the door behind himself. He jabbed Kravitz in the chest lightly and laughed harder at his attempt to look guilty. 

“I’d rather be prepared than us trying not to break some old couch made of straw and cardboard,” Kravitz returned easily, sitting on the bed and letting himself fall backwards. Taako shed his clothes quickly on his way over. “I really am sorry about the whole _thing_ , I thought you’d understand if I said my body hadn’t been -,” he stopped and glanced up at Taako, mouth opening and closing. “You’re already naked.” 

Taako laughed and straddled Kravitz’s hips. “No, go on, you were saying something about exactly how much you wanna apologize?” 

“Maybe,” Kravitz snorted, resting a hand against Taako’s waist. Taako barely suppressed a shiver at the cold touch. “Actually, I -,” his mask dropped and he sighed deeply. “I want this - you - badly, Taako, but I -. Are _you_ okay? I thought, maybe, I heard you sniffling, but I didn’t want to embarrass you.” He averted his eyes and huffed. “You don’t have to pretend for me, Taako.”

Taako frowned and rolled off Kravitz, sprawling across the bed. “I’d tell you if I wasn’t,” he growled, staring at the ceiling. The mattress shook and he felt Kravitz kiss the outside of his thigh. 

“The longer I know you, the more I don’t believe you,” Kravitz murmured against his skin, cold breath ghosting to his hip. 

Taako rolled his eyes and turned his head to the side. Kravitz was laying next to him, toes still brushing the floor. He was watching Taako with a careful expression. Taako felt his patience snap somewhere around the worry creasing Kravitz’s brow. “Are you going to make this into a _thing_ or are we going to fuck, homie?” 

Kravitz’s expression closed into anger, lips thinning and hand tightening around Taako’s knee. “I guess this is a _thing_ ,” he shoved himself up and stood, throwing himself across the couch. There was still room for another person, but Kravitz’s glare said he’d like to see Taako try to take a spot. 

Out of spite, Taako almost tried. Instead, he leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on. He was frustrated and he could feel himself sharpening his tongue on his anger. Instead of the thousand petty things that would end this night and all chances of future nights, he said, “This is fuckin’ ridiculous, babe. Lemme square this one out for ya. If I’m not fine _and_ I want you to know, I’ll tell you.”

“The only things you seem to want me to know is how much you dislike everything,” Kravitz shot back flatly. Taako’s mouth twisted into a vicious frown and he started to load his next words to fire back. “Do you even like dating me? Do you even like _me_? Not my face, but _me _,” Kravitz pointed at himself, speaking fast and angry; Taako’s words died on his lips and he closed his mouth. Kravitz’s expression changed and he looked down at his lap, anxiously plucking the hem of his dress. “It doesn’t seem like you do,” he said more softly.__

__This was different. For the time they’d been together, Taako had thought things were going well. They had fun together. The relationship had kept a lazy pace, but Taako was fine with it. Kravitz made him laugh and his interest in whatever things Taako liked was genuine._ _

__Kravitz went on slowly, but steadily, “It’s not easy to get time off, but I try to whenever you’re free. You cancel on me last minute, constantly. I’m always the one who asks you when you’re off. Merciful Death, I don’t even know what to call you. My boyfriend? An acquaintance I kiss? I have no _idea_ what you think of—,” he gestured between them vaguely. _ _

__It sounded like something he’d been sitting on for a while. The sadness from earlier felt heavier and Taako turned away from Kravitz’s sad, puppydog eyes pleading for some kind reassurance._ _


	4. A Story for a Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another AU I never finished about Kravitz watching The Story and Song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for dying during the cycles. Obviously he lives, but don't wanna blindside anyone.

There was darkness. Then, there was light. Kravitz stumbled, disorientated, falling on his face with nothing to catch him. Around him the crowd cheered, but the people seemed like facades of personhood. He lept to his feet quickly, looking around for the shadows that had already started hounding his new army. There was nothing but the attention turned towards the podium. Behind the crowd was darkness, like nothing existed outside of this little space. He squinted at the place where the dirt turned to darkness, carefully crawling over to it. It looked like half a word, overlapped with more. 

The crowd exploded with cheer in response to something he couldn’t see and Kravitz covered his ears, standing to try to peer over the shoulders of the cardboard people. He moved towards the edge of the crowd, glaring around for anyone who looked like a real person. Someone to give him the terms for freedom.

He had locked too many souls in fragments of imagination not to know that was exactly what this was. A prison, probably something that the shadows had created. 

On the stage, a woman shouted, “Please, give a warm welcome to our brave explorers!”

He turned his attention forward and froze. In vivid detail stood Taako. The first thought that crossed his mind was, _of course_. A tangle of self-conscious details knotted in his stomach. _Betrayal_ was the reason Taako had bothered with him at all. 

Taako looked right over him, into the crowd, like he didn’t or couldn’t see Kravitz. 

Next to him were six others with as much detail. A woman who looked Taako, Magnus, Merle, Lucretia, Davenport and a man he didn’t know. Kravitz jumped up and down, waving his hands. He wouldn’t try to shout over the artificial crowd, but none of them so much as glanced at him. Furious, he charged up the stage and tried to shake Taako by his shoulder, but Kravitz’s hand passed right through him. 

This wasn’t a prison. It wasn’t anything he’d seen before. 

But Kravitz would see so much more as a specter aboard the Starblaster. 

He watched them try to pick up the pieces of their life. Each night, he’d watch Taako lean against Lup or Lucretia and read tomes of magic. Kravitz watched all of the crew laughing and crying. He watched Taako slip into the darkness with cardboard people.

Until one of them ate lunch with him on a hill at the beginning of a cycle. They would hold hands, talk, laugh, kiss, slip in and out of the confines of this hell with smiles. At the end of the year, Taako brought him on board, clinging to the cardboard man like it would help. 

In the next cycle, he slipped into the darkness of the woods, Lup following behind him. Kravitz paced for days, loathing every inch of darkness added by the crew moving around the Starblaster. Finally, they returned, with silent refusal to explain where they’d been or what they’d done. Knowing no one could hear him, Kravitz yelled and shook with all his fears. He’d held his hand over Taako’s when he’d curled onto the couches and cried, Lup petting his hair comfortingly while the other crew members passed by worriedly. 

Taako stopped slipping into the darkness with the outlines of people. 

Ten cycles later, Taako stumbled and fell into a hole while scavenging for food. He’d yelled, wand and ankle broken in the fall, but no one came. The crew combed the jungle trying to find him. Kravitz had practically ran circles around them, screaming in rage when they walked right past what was quickly becoming Taako’s tomb. 

They grieved after the third day, but Taako crawled to the side of the cave and sipped water from the walls. He snarled and swore, using his shirt and lichen to wrap his ankle. His wand was hopeless, but that was no barrier for Taako. Kravitz cheered with every ounce of progress Taako made towards wandless magic. He’d mumble spells until his lips would bleed, eating whatever he could find in the confines of the hole. 

Taako walked out of the jungle after two months, barely more than skin and bones, limping weakly towards the Starblaster. Kravitz followed the whole way, shouting and cheering after him. He was different, afterwards, a different look in his eyes. Whatever youth had stuck with him through these cycles was gone.

He didn’t have to watch Taako die for many more cycles. A rock tumbling off a cliff and bad luck for Taako to be standing under it. He’d sat by Lup’s side, not knowing how to begin to comfort her, but wishing he could. She didn’t cry, but she didn’t move either, not for a week. Through that whole cycle, Kravitz learned to fear her. She was ferocious, persistent, fearless and she didn’t have Taako to keep her grounded.

It took a few more cycles for Kravitz to see a glimmer of the Taako he knew. A worse version, but only barely. Mean, selfish, cagey, with an insult peppered in every third word. Without Lup, Taako had no one to keep him kind.


	5. Moonbeams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Kravitz was a werewolf?

Thin moonbeams filtered through the leaves far overhead. Taako’s eyes narrowed at Kravitz, sitting on a log not far from him. “A werewolf,” he echoed disbelievingly. “You toted me all the way out to mosquito fuck off land to tell me that you’re a werewolf.”

“Yeah,” Kravitz sighed, prodding the fire with a stick and pulling his marshmallow back over to Taako. “You’re not in any danger, I—. I’m not going to go wild and hurt you or something.” 

Automatically, Taako snapped the graham crackers around it and pulled it off the metal prong. He gestured between them with a finger. “Homie,” he started, waving the s’more. “Are you kidding me?”

Kravitz put down the metal poker and stick, folding his hands in his lap and looking down. “I-I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not joking. I—,” he took a deep breath and looked up, staring Taako in the eyes. “I love you, Taako, and you deserve to know.”

Taako took a bite of his s’more, rolling his eyes. “And I’m the best transmutation wizard who ever lived,” he snorted.

“Well, yes, I know, but—.”

“Yes. I _know_. C’mere, handsome,” Taako laughed, holding out his arms. Kravitz darted over to him, nearly knocking Taako off the log. He grunted, managing to balance himself and shift his weight. Really, Kravitz was too big to engulf him in a hug and call it sitting on his lap. “You’re, what? Six foot three? An inch shorter than me that you resent with every fibre of your being. I’ve watched you pick up your couch one-handed and you do this cute thing with your ears dipping down every time I call you a ‘good boy’. You go on a business trip before the full moon.” He finished the rest of his s’more and wiped his hands off on the back of Kravitz’s shirt. “You might as well paint a sign on your head, babe.”

Kravitz laughed into his neck, sounding relieved. “I thought I was being more subtle than that,” he commented softly, sitting back on his knees between Taako’s legs. 

“Subtle as a brick through the window,” Taako snickered, rubbing one of Kravitz’s ears. “I’m just mad you made me go _camping_ just for this” Kravitz looked away, but leaned into Taako’s touch. “Oh, yeah, there’s definitely somethin’ else here I should know. Speak, boy,” he grinned. 

Kravitz shot him a glare. “Don’t start that,” he warned, putting a hand on Taako’s knee. At least he was looking at Taako again. “There is something else,” he murmured cautiously, eyes dropping again. 

“Go on,” Taako insisted.

Taking a deep breath, Kravitz fumbled with his coat pocket and cradled the velvet box in both his hands. He looked up at Taako again, smiling softly. Taako’s eyes went wide with surprise as he connected the dots. He covered his mouth to hold back his nervous laughter, anxiety and joy twisting in his heart.


	6. Too Much Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little too much wine on their wedding night.

The door shut with the kind of finality that left them both standing awkwardly in the hotel room. Taako shifted from foot to foot, spinning the new ring on his finger. Across from him, Kravitz slipped out of his shoes and migrated towards the hot tub sunk into the ground not far from the bed. 

“Wow,” he mumbled, words almost a slur. 

The clock’s numbers flipped to something that felt like a joke. At least Kravitz was already impressed with Taako’s end of this whole, big bargain. His mind skated around what it actually was and he walked slowly to Kravitz’s side. The ring on his finger felt all too big, all too clear and awkward and cold against Kravitz’s already cold skin. 

Kravitz’s reaction wasn’t awkward. He leaned into Taako’s touch automatically like being in Taako’s arms was the only conclusion to their night. Taako felt a smile tugging at his lips, cheeks warming. They’d spent all day and night making sure everyone knew this – every date and kiss and conversation – was _something_. He pressed his face to Kravitz’s hair, giggling softly at the way it tickled his ears; it’d long pulled loose from his complicated braids. Holding each other was the only way this was ever meant to end. 

He took a deep breath, trying to get out the words he’d only only managed twice that day. “I love you,” he whispered hoarsely. 

“Yeah,” Kravitz slurred, dropping limply against his chest. Boy, he sure was drunk. With the way Lup and Barry had tested his claim that it was almost impossible to get a Reaper drunk, he wasn’t surprised. He grinned and hugged Kravitz close, waiting. “Oh! Oh,” he exclaimed, wobbling back and putting his hands on Taako’s shoulders. He stared Taako in the eyes and said gravely, “I love you, too.”

He couldn’t help it. Taako howled with laughter, dragging Kravitz to the bed. “I can’t believe I married you!” Stepping out of his shoes, he pounced on Kravitz and smothered him with tittery kisses. 

Kravitz put a hand to his heart like he was hurt. “Well.” He turned his nose up, letting Taako undress him down to his boxers and button-up. “You’re not much of a trooof—. Tuffy—. Traphy,” he slurred and wagged his finger. Taako snorted and rolled into bed next to him, cuddling against his back. He threw out his arms. “You’re mean and you bite me and you tug on my ears and you talk in your sleep and you—.”

“Not hearin’ anythin’ you haven’t told me you like yet,” Taako teased.

“No, no, no,” he slurred. “You’re wonderful, I love you, I love all of that. I juss want you to know why I married you anyway. Even though you’re _Taako_. Or because you’re Taako? Mm.” His eyes fluttered closed and he leaned into Taako’s side. “I don’t know anymore. I really love you. Thass all,” he whispered, voice trailing off into soft snores. 

“Really love you, too, handsome,” Taako practiced in the quiet room. “Really, really love you.” He wanted it to come easily for tomorrow and all the days that followed. “Love you so much.” All the tears he’d managed to keep back during Kravitz’s shaking vows found their way to his eyes. Rubbing at his face, he sniffed and grinned, feeling absolutely mad. 

The floodgates for every hope he’d held in sprang open. The bones in his arms were ancient and drunk and wanted to be part of what made him. It all felt like some impossible fever dream. _Taako Amaiat-Kravitz_ like some kind of joke and gods it’d made him smile wide enough to feel an ache in his dimples every time he’d finished his signature with a ‘z’. Laughter bubbled to Taako’s lips and he didn’t hold it back. He was being ridiculous.

Kravitz woke briefly, hand finding Taako’s. “I love you,” he chirped tiredly as if he was responding to Taako’s flurry of whispers, eyes looking up Taako like he was the sun and moon. “Dream with me?” Taako wasn’t sure about that last part, but he committed it to his heart anyway. He laid his head beside his husband’s and – eventually – dreamt of all the nights he’d have to hold him to his heart, to hold him near the place he would always be.


	7. Stay Right Where You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING for off-screen death of a major character and dealing with grief after death.

“Stay there, I’m coming to get you,” Kravitz hissed into his stone of farspeech, hands shaking. 

“I can’t. I can’t,” Taako sobbed before the line went dead. 

He’d never ripped through reality faster. On the other side sat Taako, curled into the waiting room chair and rocking back and forth. Kravitz kneeled next to him, gathering him in his arms. He went easily as he so rarely did, going limp like Kravitz’s touch had reminded him how exhausted he was. 

Across the room, Angus and Davenport gathered Lup, Barry, and Merle close. A horrible mirror image of grief multiplied across all their faces. 

Kravitz met her eyes as she waited on him to finish. She, of all people, knew there were things that were more important than having died. 

Like the family she’d left behind. Kravitz murmured a sweet song in Taako’s ear as he sobbed. In his hand was the letter that began ‘Dear Taako,’ and left with ‘Always Your Friend, Lucretia.’


	8. Old Songs, Old Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some angst.

“You’re warm,” Kravitz sighed into Taako’s hair. He’d missed him too much. It was the middle of winter and for the first time, Kravitz had been left alone to learn he could feel cold. “You’re early. ‘S only been a day.” 

“Hachi machi, it’s freezing in here, babe,” Taako hissed, pulling away long enough to get the hearth going. “No wonder you’re like a big block of ice.”

Kravitz smiled hazily, trailing after Taako and hugging him again. “Saved fuel,” he mumbled. 

Taako rolled his eyes and patted Kravitz’s hand. “You doofus, you don’t need to save fuel by freezing half to—. Anyway, we need to get you warmed up,” he went on, shaking his head and digging through his bag. “Good thing I got this back from Lup.”

He pulled out a little square and took Kravitz’s hand. Kravitz nuzzled into Taako’s back, still feeling airy like he was floating. His fingers pushed at the button with Taako’s help, sending them into the pocket spa. 

Taako kissed him softly and helped him navigate his uncooperative limbs out of his suit. They slipped into the water. It felt cold against his skin, even though he knew it should have felt hot. Taako floated in the shallow water with him, holding Kravitz to his chest. 

Kravitz knew he must have fallen asleep. He woke up with his head lulling on Taako’s shoulder, not sure exactly where he was. “Uhm?” He looked up at Taako and shifted in his lap. 

“Are you finally coherent, bone head?” Taako’s voice was neutral, lips twitching into a frown. 

“Didn’t you leave on your trip with Lup?” He looked around, figuring out they were in a pocket dimension. A pocket spa. Interesting. 

“I did and returned four days later than we thought. Babe, I’ve been gone for three weeks,” he growled. 

Kravitz blinked, face screwing up in confusion. He remembered seeing Taako off and turning off the heating to save fuel since, well, he certainly didn’t need it. He’d sat down for a cup of tea and then nothing. A gaping hole of blank memory with vague impressions. 

“Never ever pull a stunt like that again,” he hissed, hugging him tightly. “Lup and Barry had to scour your stupid archives instead of—.” He cut himself off and pressed his face into the crook of Kravitz’s neck. “You have to take care of yourself, now. You can’t just turn your heart off when you want anymore.” 

Mutely, Kravitz hugged him back unsure of what it meant and the frightened pulse in both their throats.


	9. Curtains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stumbling start to what would later become Reaper Coworkers (AKA: At Your Worst, You're the Best).

Nothing stirred in the office but the dust motes caught in the lights. Scattered across the desk were swatches of color and fabric in almost every shade or texture known to man. They were piled in high stacks that built cities over the office. Slowly, Kravitz opened the door and tried not to disturb its contents. He crept to his chair and took a seat, trying to move some of the swatches aside to get to the paperwork underneath. It sent a pile tumbling to the floor and Kravitz watched in horror as the domino effect devastated every single stack. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. It was time, but he was no longer closer to an answer than when he’d started. Leaning forward, Kravitz took a deep breath and tried to calm his fluttering heart. He stared down at the few swatches left on his desk. They were gaudy, ugly, or not _right_. There was a knock at the door and Kravitz held back the swear curling his lips into a frown. 

“Come in,” he said instead, clasping his hands together. 

A woman came in, Quinn if he remembered right, staring down at the mess his office had become with silent judgement. Kravitz ignored it and the ruffle of his chest feathers. She glanced over at Kravitz, lifting her chin with a defiance that made Kravitz immediately regret not pretending like he wasn’t there. Without looking down, she unbuckled her gauntlet and tossed it across Kravitz’s floor where it lodged itself deep into a pile of swatches. 

“Is this what you really want?” He laced his fingers together and leaned forward, sighing. 

Her jaw tightened and her shoulders rose. “Yes.” 

Kravitz glanced down at her bare hand, still black taloned with a smattering of downy feathers. “Of course you are,” he said simply, chair creaking as he leaned back. “Are you unhappy? Are the others bullying you?” 

Quinn seemed surprised by the questions, but shook her head. “Do you accept?”

“You answer mine, I’ll answer yours,” he said ambivalently, turning his finger in a quick circle. “I’ve got better things to do than help a hatchling prove her worth to the Conspiracy.”

Her eyes hardened, lips pressing in a thin line. “If Our Lady won’t do us the honor of killing you, then I’ll end this humiliation for all of us,” she spat, hair feathers ruffled and ears pinned to her head. 

Kravitz barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. As if he hadn’t heard _that_ a million times since The End. “Is it the dreams? Our Lady is only trying to help you do what the other you asked,” he replied neutrally, looking down at the swatches on his desk and starting to arrange them by color. 

“I haven’t had any dreams. Will you answer me?” She snarled and teeth bared, but her ears had dropped. Kravitz _tsk_ ed softly and lingered over a shade of bright blue. He sat it aside and touched a white swatch of sheer fabric. They were nice colors, they’d do well together in in the warm sun. Biting his lip, he put it by the blue, too. He managed to get through sorting a few more swatches before Quinn took a seat in the plush chair on the other side of his desk. 

She crossed her arms, the leather and silver of her armor creaking. “You’re not even doing work,” she growled, glaring around the piles of color. 

“I’ve saved up vacation time over the last few millennia,” he mumbled distractedly, putting one blue next to the other. They were nearly identical, but one looked, maybe, slightly more dreary. More terrible somehow. He slid the swatches towards Quinn and tapped the right one. “Does this seem more, uhm, _boring_ to you?” 

Quinn stared at Kravitz is disbelief, then down at the swatches and back up. “They’re the same,” she said slowly, warily. 

“No, this one is more -. I don’t know the word, but it’s sort of like it’s a bad omen,” he dismissed, pulling the swatches back to himself. 

“No, I’m telling you, they are the same color,” she frowned, something of her facade dropping. 

“You’re wrong. Look at it, it’s going to be terrible,” he argued, drumming his fingers with an annoyed flicker to his ears. 

Quinn’s ears twitched, too, and she puffed out her cheeks, hair ruffling again. “I’m not wrong, you’re just insane,” she shot back. 

He covered his mouth and considered it seriously. “We’ll get tired of it eventually, right? It’s a bad color. We’ll have a fight over it and that’ll be it,” Kravitz squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath. “It’ll be my fault, too, he trusted me with it and I picked the wrong color and he’ll realize it isn’t what he wanted _anyway_. I’ll be stuck with terrible walls and an empty house,” he concluded, feeling the stress clawing its way into his voice. 

“Is this a test? Is it part of the duel? What the fuck is happening right now?” Kravitz opened his eyes in surprise, having momentarily forgotten about the messenger across the desk. 

He glanced between the swatches and Quinn. “Yes,” he said seriously, clasping his hands together and leaning forward. 

She stared at him, brows knitted. “The left one,” she said after a pause. 

He picked the right one, her left, up again, squinting at it and spinning his chair slightly. “It is a nice color,” he murmured, tucking it into his breast pocket. Picking up two swatches of curtain fabric he pushed them towards her. “Do you think the yellow or the white?”

Quinn looked around the room at all the swatches in dread. “I think I need to go,” she said quickly, grabbing her gauntlet from the floor. “I’ll come back another time, sir.” She shut the door behind herself and Kravitz tucked the two curtain swatches next to the blue one. 

One obstacle avoided, he turned back to the paperwork he needed to finish. His stone of far speech chimed in the moment he picked up his quill. “Handsome,” Taako called, voice crackling from where it rested on his chest. 

Kravitz picked up the necklace and flipped it on with a soft smile. “I’m here,” he replied, setting his quill down. 

“When are you coming home?”

Kravitz leaned an elbow on his desk, covering his smile. One question in and he was already well on his way to being useless to anyone who didn’t need someone to spin in their chair while beaming at paint swatches. “Do you need me? I can come home now,” he meant it to be a question, but the hope coloring his voice made it more of a request. 

“Sure. See you in a few, babe,” Taako snorted, the stone going dead. Kravitz laid his head on his desk, trying to compose himself. He took a deep breath, stood up and picked up his scythe to tear through reality. Where he was going struck him again and he stopped, scythe end clicking on the ground as he laughed. 

The smile felt like too much. His heart was beating too fast. Leaning on his scythe, Kravitz puffed out his chest, trying to shake the smile off. He checked a mirror, managing to look both handsome _and_ disaffected. Then, he tore through the air and, for the first time, went home.


	10. The Nights Grow Shorter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reaper Coworkers (At Your Worst, You're the Best) post-epilogue baby fic. Don't give me that look.

They said they’d never do this again. People also say to never say never. Their eyes met over the top of their little exception. Kravitz rested his hand on top of Taako’s and Taako smiled back sleepily, Lucy having woke both of them up with her chirping. She was still fast asleep between them, dreaming over the tune of ‘ _Mary Had a Little Lamb_ ’. 

He’d been scared that it would be like people said. That after the first egg, the edge and excitement of their love would wear off. None of that has been true for them. Taako still cooed softly at Kravitz, locking their fingers together. Lucy’s eyes fluttered as she started to wake, huffing grumpily. 

“I’m thinkin’ cocoa for breakfast, handsome,” Taako whispered. Kravitz nodded sagely and leaned over, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. 

“Baba,” Lucy whined, squeezing her eyes shut and rolling into Kravitz. “Don’t wanna up.”

“You’re too much like your papa,” Kravitz grinned and picked her up as he sat. Taako snuck out of the nest, nightgown he’d stolen from Kravitz trailing on the rug as he disappeared towards the kitchen. “You can’t sleep _all_ day, Lucy Loop.” She whined and buried her face in Kravitz’s chest. He shook his head and grabbed a comb buried somewhere in the side of the nest. She had an unruly head of feathers like he’d had at her age. “Besides, don’t you know what day it is?”

“No,” she grouched, hair fluffing up as she ruffled her feathers in annoyance.

People said, too, that raising a child put love on hold; that you only had time for affection. “It’s your papa’s nameday,” he smiled, tapping her on the head. She looked up at him skeptically. “So we’re going to sing to him when he comes back, okay?” Lucy blinked, turning in his lap to give him better access to comb her hair. “Do you remember how it goes?”

Humming, she managed to chirp out the little words. “Hap-py name-day to you-u,” she sang a little louder than he’d been hoping for. He heard Taako coming close and he hushed her, laughing. She giggled and covered her mouth as Taako peeked into the doorway suspiciously. 

“Cocoa’s almost done, you hooligulls,” he warned them and disappeared again. 

“Good, you remember,” Kravitz mock-whispered. “Do you wanna sing with me, Lucy Loop?” She nodded enthusiastically. Lucy was always a hundred percent on board with mischief. Taako came back with a little tray of drinks and they burst into off-key singing. 

Kravitz was glad that things were never really how people said they were.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow my [Tumblr](https://evitcani-writes.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Evit_cani).


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